Best Northern California Beaches
A Quick Tour of the Best Northern California Beaches The beaches in California lining the majestic redwood-studded North Coast come in every size, color and character. It all begins in tranquil Bodega Bay California -- close to Sonoma Valley and world class Sonoma wine tasting -- stretching to the divinely secluded Shelter Cove on "The Lost Coast" -- miles from California coast Highway 1. 
Choose from vacation rental-rich gated communities, like The Sea Ranch California or the New England-style villages of Mendocino County California -- both perfect for a romantic couples vacation Wildlife-lovers, bring your binoculars! Migrating whales and sea birds are easy to spot from Northern California beaches. And California State Park guides will be happy to help you welcome harbor seal pups (from a safe distance, of course) near Jenner. However, quiet Sonoma Valley rather spectacularly trumps its famous cousin with its own world-class (and less crowded) wine country and 58 miles of rugged coastline jeweled with pristine beaches. More than 40 years ago, Alfred Hitchcock chose Bodega Bay California (and the village of Bodega, just a few miles inland on Hwy. 12) to shoot his classic thriller “The Birds.” Commercial fishing is still the town’s primary business, so this is a great place to charter a sport fishing boat and snag salmon, rock cod, lingcod, Dungeness crab, halibut and albacore. Bodega Bay California is a stone’s throw from Sonoma Coast State Park a sublime 13-mile stretch of Northern California State beaches separated by bluffs and rocky headlands. These are three of my favorites: - Salmon Creek Beach. Just outside of Bodega Bay California this is a popular surfing spot. From the lagoon at the mouth of Salmon Creek, nearly two miles of unbroken beach is perfect for walking, surf fishing, beach-combing and picnicking. - Shell Beach. This beach is known for its tide pools. You can spend hours tiptoeing around starfish and mussel-encrusted rocks.
Heaven For wildlife lovers! Goat Rock Beach is home to a colony of harbor seals. During the March through August pupping season), Sonoma California State Park volunteers are on hand to help you see the pups from a safe distance. If you’re a bird-watcher, expect to see great blue heron, cormorant, osprey and pelicans. From January through April, the North Coast is a great place for whale watching in California as gray whales migrate from nurseries along Mexico’s Baja peninsula to the Arctic, still nursing their infants. Bring your binoculars to the best view spots which include the Bodega Head (the rocky headland at the entrance to Bodega harbor) and Jenner (where the Russian River empties into the Pacific). Beach Vacation Rental Scout Recommends: Touring the hillside vineyards of Napa and Sonoma counties. You don't have to be a hard-core cyclist to enjoy the ride with Bike-O-Vision. This DVD takes you past past famous wineries and down shady country lanes of the Alexander Valley (Sonoma) and along the Silverado Trail near St. Helena in Napa Valley. 90 minutes of bliss. North of Jenner California Heading north on isolated California coast Highway 1, the driving gets more challenging and the Northern California beaches more wild and dramatic. The Sea Ranch California -- a gated community with lots of vacation rental homes—has luxury amenities amid 3,500 acres of open space. The homes seem to blend into surrounding forest, meadows and ocean bluffs. There are miles of hiking and bike trails and no streetlights to blot out the phenomenal nightly star show. Irish Beach California is a similar seaside community that’s great for vacation rentals near Manchester State Beach and the landmark 115-foot-tall lighthouse at Point Arena. The commercial town of Gualala (pronounced wa-LA-la)on the southern border of Mendocino County California marks the beginning of the "Banana Belt," a nearly fog-free micro-climate stretching five miles north to Anchor Bay. Take the north trail at Schooner Gulch State Beach to Bowling Ball Beach, piled with round boulders the size and shape of ... you guessed. Protected Fish Rock Beach is a great place for fishing, abalone and scuba diving, ocean kayaking, surfing, boogie boarding and skim boarding in season. Surrounded by scenic towns of Elk and Albion and Caspar, genteel Mendocino California is this area’s main draw. The village of Mendocino California in Mendocino Headlands State Park Mendocino County California looks like a New England village. Set on its own peninsula, it has a climate so temperate, flowers bloom year-round. Both Mendocino and the commercial fishing village of Fort Bragg California have great shops and galleries and world-class restaurants -- all the makings of a romantic mini vacation,
Beach Vacation Rental Scout Recommends: Visit California (the state of California’s travel site) is a good resource for checking practical considerations re: Northern California beaches, including weather and driving times. Tally the cost of fuel with AAA's road trip calculator.
Humboldt County This is the Redwood Coast, home to the world's tallest trees, over half of the world's old-growth redwood forest and more than 100 miles of dramatic coastline where the hiking, biking, kayaking and birdwatching on California beaches are unmatched. Eighty miles known as The Lost Coast California was discovered in 1850, when a Baltimore schooner ran aground. It is still the longest stretch of undeveloped coastline in the continental United States, because the coastal geography made it too costly to continue building California coast Highway 1 north of here. Look for the Shelter Cove on Hwy. 101 (just south of the Humboldt Redwoods State Park and Avenue of the Giants — the largest stand of virgin redwoods in the world). This is definitely the road less-traveled — 23 miles of twists and turns to be exact. Take a Dramamine — the seaside town, home to one of the more secluded Northern California beaches, is cradled between sheer ocean cliffs is worth the trip.
Check put great Northern California vacation rentals And if you can't find the perfect beach on the North Coast? Click on the links below.
Beach Vacation Rental Scout Recommends: No matter which of these Northern California beaches you choose, keep our Beach Safety Tips on your packing list. (You may even want to post in when you arrive at your vacation rental home.) Back to the top of Best Northern California Beaches
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